The Lesson

Preparation:
Learn about Ladybugs and mosquitoes. Enchanted Learning has
information and a diagram of a Mosquito.

Ask
if anyone has every been bitten by a mosquito or other insect?
How did it feel?

The
mosquito has a long mouth called a proboscis. (Hold
up a sample of the mosquito craft or a picture of a mosquito
and point out where the proboscis is located.) On
the proboscis are sharp cutting tools called stylets.
The mosquito uses her stylets to cut open her victims skin.
She then pushes in her long mouth and injects saliva into the
wound to increase the blood flow and sucks the victims blood.
She leaves a small wound that starts to itch within two
minutes which is caused by an allergic reaction to the mosquito's
saliva. (I use the word "she" because only the female
mosquito eats blood. They need the protein to produce eggs.)

Did
you know that our mouth can be used in the same way the mosquitoes
mouth is used? It can be even more hurtful than a mosquito
bite. In Psalm 52:4 the tongue is described as a sharpened
razor. Have you ever been cut with a razor or knife?
They are very sharp and can make a very deep cut that can bleed
a lot. In the same way you can cut with your tongue hurting
someone's feelings and making them "bleed" or cry. Lying and
calling names can be very hurtful and the effects can last a
lot longer than a mosquito bite Once you say something you
can't take it back. You can say you're sorry, but
the words are still there. Is the old rhyme "Sticks and stones
will break my bones but words will never hurt me" true? No.
Words can not hurt you physically, but they can hurt your feelings.
Can you think of a time when someone hurt you with their words?
How did you feel?

Read Proverbs 12:18 - "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but
the tongue of the wise brings healing." Be careful what
you say. Even if you don't really mean what you say, you can
hurt someone very badly. Instead of putting people down,
use your words to encourage and lift people up.

Ask
if anyone has every gone on a hike or down to the lake or into
the woods where there were bugs everywhere. How did that
make you feel?

Mosquitoes are pests. They bother you. They fly
around in front of your face which can be very irritating. People can be that way too. No one wants to be around
someone who is constantly bothering them.

Can
you think of ways you can bother other people. (Let the children
share their ideas and write them down on the board).

1.
Not sharing
2. Yelling
3. Not listening or always talking or interrupting
4. Whining
5. Being bossy
6. Being a sore loser
7. Getting mad easily
8. Wanting things your way all the time.
9. Always having to be right, arguing
10. Getting others in trouble
11. Messing up things, not taking care of things that
belong to others.
12. Always wanting something from someone, but not willing
to give.

What
do you think of when you see a ladybug? Do you want to get rid
of them?

Ladybugs
are very different than mosquitoes. People don't mind having
them around. In fact, most people who understand them
are glad to see them. They know that ladybugs are very
helpful. In fact, back in the 1880s, just a few hundred ladybugs
saved all the orange trees in the state of California.
Some very bad insects, called the cottony-cushion scale were
brought to our country from Australia aboard a cargo ship. They
spread rapidly and started eating and killing all the orange
trees in California. The insects weren't so bad in Australia
because Australia had ladybugs that ate the cottony-cushion
scale. Californians knew that they needed the Australian ladybugs
to help them save their trees. So 500 ladybugs were sent
to California. When they arrived they started eating the
cottony-cushion scale and within two years the trees were saved.

1. Ladybugs Are Very Gentle - Have you every held a ladybug.
They don't bite do they? Galatians
5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

2. Ladybugs are Helpful - They make people happy.
They help whenever they can. Read Ephesians 4:29 "Don't use
bad language. Say only what is good and helpful to those you
are talking to, and what will give them a blessing." TLB You
can help people by doing nice things for them, but you
can also be helpful by saying kind things and giving
compliments to people.

3. Ladybugs Protect our Plants - How can we be like a ladybug
and protect others? We can stand up for what is right and defend
our friends if someone is picking on them.

Read
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "Love is patient, love is kind. It
does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It
is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in
evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always
trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Summary

Mosquitoes
hurt and are pests. I know I'm glad when I get away from pesky
bugs. Ladybugs, on the other hand, are very helpful. When people
see ladybugs they thank God for them. What about you?
Are you more like a ladybug or a mosquito?

Note: Mosquitoes aren't all bad. We need mosquitoes. The
are an important food source for birds and many other animals.
God created them for a purpose.

Prayer

Thank
you for your words that teach us how to be a friend. Help us
to be more loving, to treat our friends how we would like to
be treated. Forgive when we aren't kind and treat our
friends badly. And thank you for showing us the greatest kind
of friendship by sending your son to die on the cross for us.

Crafts and Activities

1. Make a Ladybug Craft

1. Use
the Ladybug
Pattern to cut wings from red poster board and the head and body from
black poster board.

2. Glue
the head on to the body and then line up the wings with the
body so that the body is completely covered. Punch holes where
indicated on the wing pattern and insert paper fasteners to
connect the wings to the body.

3. Cut
pipe cleaners about 6 inches long and fold in half for the
antennae.

4. In
class have the children write on the body of the ladybug characteristic
of a good friend. (Use the Milky Pens because they will show
up on the black background) Have them decorate the ladybug's
wings, glue or draw on eyes, and tape pipe cleaner antennae
to the back of the ladybug's head.

2. Make a Mosquito
Craft

1. Use
the pattern to cut out the body parts from black poster board and the
wings from tag board or white poster board.

2. Punch
holes in the body where it is indicated on the pattern.

3. Cut
some pipe cleaners about 6 inches long and fold in half for
the antennae. Cut some more pipe cleaners about 4 inches
long for the proboscis. You will need 3 uncut pipe cleaners
for the legs.

4. Attach
the wings to the body with paper fasteners where it is indicated
on the pattern.

5. In
class let the children pick out what color legs, antennae,
and proboscis they would like to use on their mosquitoes.
Attach the legs by inserting one pipe cleaner through the
top left hole from the front, pulling around the back to the
top right hole, and inserting it through the hole. Pull the
pipe cleaner through to make both legs an even length and
then bend the pipe cleaner to look like legs. Do the same
thing for the other two set of holes.

6. Insert
the 4 inch pipe cleaner through the hole in the head and pull
it half way through. Twist the ends together to keep
it from falling out. Tape the antennae to the back of the
head.

7. (Optional)
To make the eyes shiny I glued on some sequined material cut
to the shape of the eye. You can buy a 2" x 45" piece
of the material at Wal-Mart for about thirty cents.

8. Have
the children write on the body of the mosquito unfriendly
characteristics. (Use the Milky Pens because they will show
up on the black background) Have them decorate the mosquito's
wings, glue or draw on eyes, and tape pipe cleaner antennae
to the back of the its head.

Bulletin Board Ideas

To
make a bulletin board display print out the title banner and
the verse banner onto legal size paper. Color the mosquitoes
and ladybugs with markers. Tape them to the top of your bulletin
board. Use a white or light color background paper. Print
out the verse banners onto legal size paper and cut them apart.
Have the children make extra ladybugs and mosquitoes to put
up on the bulletin board to finish the display. Note:
You can also add the ladybugs to the display from the ladybug
memory verse game from the next lesson when the game is over.

"What
Kind of Friend are You?" Title Banner - Print on legal size paper and color in the ladybugs and mosquitoes.

Books and Activities About Bugs

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2000, Digital by Design, Inc
Danielle's Place of Crafts and Activities
http://www.daniellesplace.com

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Comments

We
would love to hear your comments about this lesson. If you have
done this lesson with your class we would love to hear how it
went, if you changed anything, added anything, what age you
taught and was it appropriate. Any comments that would help
other teachers would be greatly appreciated and posted here
for everyone to read.

I
taught this lesson during Children's Church to our 3-5 year
olds. I think it was a really wonderful message
and the kids were able to relate well to the concept of
helping one another using the ladybug craft. I made
my prototype of the ladybug from construction paper glued to
poster board for added strength. Spray adhesive
works really well and makes your gluing jobs much faster.
Children this age have trouble being "neat"
with glue, so to avoid using a really thick glue to hold the
ladybugs antennae and the mess, I punched two holes near the
top of the ladybug and inserted the pipe cleaner from
the back to front, over and through the hole on the other
side to the back. The result is the same, but less mess
and a very cute ladybug. The kids just loved it.
Instead of sending out letters using the flower, I used it
as a craft as well. Again, I glued the construction
paper to poster board for the leaf pattern and small lady
bug (my own hand-drawing). I used construction paper
only for inside of the flower and the petal. Layering all of
the above together and punching a hole in the center
(using an ice pick), I inserted a paper fastener to hold
it all together. I added my own pen embellishments
and wrote the memory verse "Help One Another"
on the back. I hope these ideas are found useful
and that you enjoy this lesson as much as I did. God Bless,
Donna Byrd